Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and Fairy Tail. They belong to their respective owner.

A/N: Thank you to fellow readers, old and new especially Dariyuphie, naruto x fairy tail, fictionlover1993, RinneSasuke, imortal12, jenny hotkins, nikkitheprincess, annarochev, fizirazak, king and Ruh Hurkano for reviewing the previous chapter and also to those who favorite/follow this story. I really appreciate it.

Sorry in advance for any mistake.

Chapter 18

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Erza approached the scowling ex-boyfriend of hers determinedly. She really didn't want to have any unnecessary contact with him if she could but he was injured and her teacher ordered her to tend to him. She saw him looked up and his face softened when his eyes met her. She averted her eyes away and missed the hurt look he made because of her action.

Erza sat next to him on the bench and examined his face for the damage. She noticed a bruise on his left jaw but aside from that, he looked like he was fine. She was relieved at that, if not Sasuke would be in so much trouble for hurting another student, Jellal Fernandes specifically since he was their guest at this school.

"Aside from that bruise I think you're fine," she said without looking at him in the eye. She proceeded by opening the first aid kit and searched for some cold patch to prevent the bruise from getting worse. She removed the sticky side, placed it on his jaw and gently smoothed it out so that it covered his skin evenly. "There, you can remove it after an hour or when the cool effect has been reduced," she said.

She began to retract her hand away when he caught it with his and she let out a gasp at the sudden action from his part. Her eyes rose to meet his and she could see the gentle smile playing on his lip.

"Thank you," he uttered gently.

"No problem," she answered trying to tug her hand away from his clutches but he stubbornly keeping a tight hold on hers. She gave him a warning glare. "Jellal, let my hand go," she hissed, looking around to see if anyone else noticed them. Fortunately for her, the game had started and everybody's attention was once again on it.

"No I don't want to," he refused. "I longed to touch you again Erza. I miss you," he confessed, looking at her with a pleading gaze. He brought their joined hands lower to not attract any unwanted attention to them.

Erza was fuming mad and her face showed it all but the stubborn blue haired boy was not fazed by it. "How dare you?" She hissed, trying to keep her temper in check, because she felt like beating him to a pulp at the moment. "We were over Jellal," she said.

"That was a mistake Erza," he argued. "We were not supposed to break up."

"But we did, you made me choose between my father's company or you," she seethed, narrowing her eyes at him with anger. "And I made my choices, get over it," she spat. "Were you really that confident that I would choose you before? Seemed like you didn't know me at all Jellal," she sneered. She knew what Jellal wanted. He was asking for a second chance, but she was not going to give it to him. They were not getting back together for sure.

"Besides you have Ultear now, your family seemed to like her. Imagine how they're going to react when they know that you decide to get back with me. Or do you still want to pursue a relationship with Ultear and keep me in your back pocket?" She challenged him defiantly. He could see the dangerous glint in his eyes as he tightened his hold on her hand making her winced in pain. "You're hurting me," she warned him. He snapped out of it and loosened his hold on her hand. Erza took the chance to remove her hand from his hold and get up from the bench, walking away from him.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Mira talking to Naruto who was benched. They were locked in a conversation so she didn't want to bother them. Instead, she went out of the door in the hope of finding Sasuke. She knew that he was pissed off and she wanted to make sure that he didn't do anything stupid or harmful in his outrage. Sasuke could be so unpredictable when he was angry and that made her worry about him.

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Naruto watched helplessly at Sasuke's retreating back until he could no longer be seen. He sighed thinking about his best friend. It was better to leave him alone anyway when he was pissed off like that. Sasuke would not listen to anything or see reason when he was angry.

"Is he going to be okay?"

He looked at the cute looking girl with white hair looking after Sasuke with a worried look on her face. Naruto wondered who this chick was. He saw her with Erza earlier and they acted really chummy with each other from what he could see.

"He's going to be fine eventually," he replied gaining the attention of the mystery girl to him.

She smiled as soon as she saw him. "I'm glad then," she said softly. "I'm Mira by the way," she introduced herself out of nowhere. But then again it was only appropriate to do so.

"I'm Naruto," he replied, sitting once again on the bench and this time the girl, Mira took a seat beside him. "Are you a friend of Erza?" He asked.

"Yes, she's my best friend. We've known each other since we attended Magnolia High together," Mira informed.

Naruto nodded in understanding. Another person from Erza's past was here. But at least Mira was nice, unlike Jellal or Ultear.

They struck up a conversation and Naruto was surprised that he didn't mind the friendly girl's presence when he could barely tolerate other girls aside from his usual group. The words flew freely between them and Naruto couldn't help but think that this would be a start to a beautiful friendship but what he wasn't aware was that, it would lead to something more.

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Erza searched for Sasuke's presence around the school but her efforts seemed futile at the moment. She wondered where he had disappeared to. She searched for him inside their classroom, the locker, the student council room and even the rooftop but he was nowhere to be seen.

Grumbling in annoyance and frustration, she took out her phone and texted him, asking about his whereabouts.

To: Sasuke

Are you okay? Where are you?

She sent the message and a few seconds later, her phone vibrated in her hand indicating that a new message had been sent to her. Swiftly, she looked at the message and a frown made its way onto her beautiful face.

New text message: Sasuke

I'm fine. Meet me at the parking lot after school ends. I'll be waiting.

Erza didn't even bother replying to the message but her mind was filled with the thought of Sasuke. He didn't tell her where he was so he definitely wanted to be alone for now. Shrugging with a defeated sigh, she typed a quick text to Mira saying that she was heading to the council room. She began walking in that direction when she found her path was blocked by none other than Ultear Milkovich. Erza halted her movement and glared at the snobbish girl standing in front of her with a matching glare on her face.

"What do you want Ultear?" She asked impatiently.

"What I want is for you to stay away from Jellal," Ultear seethed at her

Erza rolled her eyes at the impersonation of angry cat in front of her. . Erza guessed that she saw what had transpired between her and Jellal earlier. She really had no time for this crap again. It seemed like again and again, Jellal was the only subject that came into view every time Erza saw Ultear. Sometimes she pitied the girl. She really needed to find a hobby or something that was not related to Jellal. "I'm not interested in Jellal, so you don't have to worry about me going after him," Erza said with an unladylike snort. "How about you tell him to stay away from me instead?" She added with acid in her tone. Hearing no smart reply from Ultear, Erza moved past the fuming Milkovich heir and proceeded to the student council room. Everyone was happy and having fun around the school, but she couldn't bring herself to share the jovial mood.

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Erza gave a subtle glance at the frowning boy sitting at the driver's seat. The trip to her house was quiet and Sasuke barely said anything at her since she stepped inside the car. Sasuke was clearly in a bad mood and he was sulking. Although it amused her to see the great Uchiha Sasuke in a sulking mood, she also couldn't help but feel sad at the same time to be given the silent treatment from the man she came to call her friend in the past few weeks.

She couldn't stand the silence anymore, so she chose to improve the situation a bit.

"Congratulation for the game today. It's awesome that we've won against Magnolia High," she said with a smile.

She saw Sasuke rolled his eyes at her statement. "Hn. It's so awesome that you went to tend to Jellal after that prick pushed me during the game," he replied somewhat condescendingly.

Erza frowned at his biting tone and his accusation hurts her feeling. "It's not like I volunteered myself. The teacher ordered me to tend to him, you know," she bit back defiantly, crossing her arms across her chest. "And I went looking for you after that, but you being the jealous emo that you are, chose to ignore me and went sulking by yourself," she scolded.

Sasuke scoffed at her. "Who says about me being jealous?" He said incredulously. "And I'm not sulking," he added.

"Yeah right," Erza sneered in his direction. "And I'm Sakura's best friend," she stated with disdain.

She saw Sasuke shuddered at the thought. "Please, don't even joke about that," he said. Then, his eyes narrowed at her. "She didn't say anything to you, did she?" He asked with a low tone.

Erza let out a gruff sigh. "Forget about it," she said instead. She didn't really want to talk about Haruno Sakura. That pink haired girl really gets on her nerve without even trying.

Sasuke regarded her silently for a moment before he turned his attention back to the road in front of him since he was driving. "Don't mind much of what Sakura said. She can be downright mean when she wants to. It's in her nature," he said.

"Yeah, your girlfriend seems like a mean girl."

"She's not my girlfriend," Sasuke countered but Erza simply snorted in reply. "Oh, that's rich. Look who's being jealous now," he said.

"I am not jealous," Erza told him calmly. She was not going to admit that she was indeed jealous especially when she saw Sakura hugging him in the hallway. That particular memory was seared into her brain and she felt like she would break into pieces remembering that scene.

"Whatever," Sasuke interjected. "But seriously, there is nothing between Sakura and I, be it now, the past or in the future. It's true that she likes me but I can't even stand her presence."

Erza listened to his explanation but she didn't comment anything to that. Hearing his denial made her felt relief because she was secretly hoping that there was really nothing going on between them. She silently regarded him from the corner of her eyes. What was not to like about this man? He was the perfect specimen of human being.

She was past her denial that she didn't harbor any feeling for the man sitting beside her, but she also wasn't going to do anything about it. She was afraid. Afraid to let herself became vulnerable again to the spell of love. She mentally scoffed at herself. It was not like Sasuke liked her in that way anyway.

If only Erza knew better.

Soon, they arrived at her apartment and before Erza could step out of the car, she noticed the graze on his arm. "That laceration on your elbow and knuckles," she pointed in the direction of his left arm, "needs to be treated before the infection set in. Come to my house for a while, let me take a look at the wound."

"It's fine," Sasuke brushed it off like it was nothing, still in his pissed off mood.

"Nonsense," Erza countered. "Come with me Sasuke. I insist," she ordered. She saw Sasuke gave a resigned look and he killed the engine. After that, they both exited the car and made their way upstairs to her house.

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"Ow! That's nasty!" Sasuke shouted as Erza applied some iodine to the laceration on his elbow. "Can't you do it more gently," he complained. "It sting like a bitch."

He saw Erza rolled her eyes at him. "Oh, get over it you big baby. Stop whining," she said as she raised his arm at her eye level and gently blew at his wound.

"Tch," Sasuke muttered as he looked away from the sight. He might act like he was pissed at her but on the inside, he was happy. He was happy because he knew that she cared about him. He watched as she silently began wrapping the bandage around the wound and it made his heart swell with bliss to see her genuine concern for his well being. Suddenly he regretted being mad at her for today when she was just doing her job. But seeing her with Jellal really gets on his nerve and uncharacteristically sent him into a jealous fit.

"There, it's all done," she said. She looked up and their eyes met for the longest moment. No one said anything as the silence stretched between them. Sasuke saw the blush adorning her cheek as she suddenly broke away from their staring gaze and she got up from the couch beside him. Erza made the move to walk away from him and Sasuke didn't know what came over him but he instinctively grabbed her hand and yanked her towards him, making her fall onto his lap.

She let out a startled gasped but Sasuke paid her no mind as he circled his arm around her tiny waist. With her back to his front, Sasuke hugged her form tightly in his embrace as if didn't want to let go.

"S-sasuke?" She stammered as her hand went to his arm. "What are you doing?" Sasuke heard the confusion in her voice. What was he doing? He himself didn't know what he was doing. He was going with his instinct for now, and his instinct just tell him that he wanted to hold her close to him, to feel her warm body against him and to never let her go because he needed her. He didn't like arguing with her. It made him feel restless and do stupid things.

"Let's just stay this way for a moment Erza," he whispered as he buried his nose in her long red tresses resting at the crook of her neck. Sasuke could feel the loud beating of her heart against his chest and he was sure that she could feel the same thing happening with him. Suddenly he felt tired all over. The weight of what had been happening today finally was taking its toll on him. Sasuke leaned his body to lie on the sofa, bringing her body with him. Erza gasped at the sudden gesture but she made no move to untangle herself from him. He could feel the tension from her body but she began to relax her form after a while. Luckily the couch was big enough to sustain both of their body on it.

"Sasuke?"

"Hmm?" He answered absent mindedly.

"Are you okay?" She asked gently. He could hear the concern in her voice.

Sasuke smiled softly, tightening his arm further around her. "I am now," he answered. He could feel his eyes getting droopy with every second the time went by. Having her near him and in his arm brought some sort of peace to him. He felt content, like nothing could go wrong when she was by his side. He felt complete.

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"Sasuke?" Erza called out when she finally felt his arm around her went lax and she could feel the gentle rise and fall of his chest coming from his breathing. Hearing no respond from Sasuke, Erza removed his hands away from her waist and sat up from her lying position beside him. She glanced towards him and saw that he had fallen asleep on the couch. A smile lit up on her face seeing his adorable look when he was sleeping. He looked peaceful in his sleep.

Erza stepped away from him and walked towards her bedroom, her mind filled with Sasuke. She was confused with his weird behavior earlier. She didn't know what came over him hugging her like that. She mentally berated the youngest Uchiha. Didn't he know that treating her like that would send a wrong signal to her brain? She silently wondered if he actually liked her. His action seemed to say so but he didn't say anything about it. She didn't dare to hope for more.

Erza stripped and entered her bathroom for a quick shower. If someone told her a few months ago that she would fall for Sasuke, she would laugh and denied it. There was no way that she would fall for the annoying, hot head and manipulative jerk. But looked at her now, she was indeed falling for him, the guy who forced his way into her life and slowly melted her frozen heart.

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Sasuke woke up to the gentle shake on his shoulder. He opened his eyes and saw Erza standing beside him, already out of her school uniform.

"It's getting late," she said.

Sasuke groaned and sat up, stretching his limbs in the process. "What time is it?" He asked, his voice raspy from sleep.

"It's already half past seven," she informed. "Go wash your face and have some sandwiches before you go," she said before she walked away to the kitchen.

Sasuke got up from the couch and went to the bathroom to wash his face. He saw the toothbrush he used the last time he spent a night at her house and used it to brush his teeth. After that, he walked out of the bathroom and met her at the kitchen. She already set up the sandwiches and tea on the table and Sasuke sat in front of her at the island. She poured the tea for him and they proceeded to eat in silence.

Sasuke watched the girl in front of him as he gobbled the sandwiches she prepared. It was a simple cucumber sandwiches but it was good. Sasuke noticed that Erza was nervous and she didn't dare looking up at him to meet his eyes. She must be feeling awkward about what had happen earlier.

"I'm finish," he said before he gulped the last of his tea. "Thank you for the food."

"Sure," Erza said finally looking at him with a small smile. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

Sasuke nodded as he got up from his seat. Erza walked him to the door and Sasuke placed his hand on the doorknob. But then, instead of turning it and walking out of the door, he retracted his hand and turned around to face her instead with determination. He could see the confusion in her eyes.

"You know, we've been doing this for a long time now you and I," he started. "Tiptoeing around each other, not knowing what to do about our feelings and instead pulling away every time things get too much," he said without breaking as he stared intently at her. "I like you Erza. I like you a lot," he finally confessed. "And I know you at least care about me," he said in a hopeful tone. "So why don't we be honest with each other and give us a chance."

"Sasuke," Erza uttered softly. He saw the mixed emotion played across her face as she pondered on his words

Sasuke stepped closer to her and brought his hand to cup her smooth cheek. "I know I want to," he whispered as he closed their gap, his face leaning dangerously close to her. Seeing no resistance from the head red, Sasuke took the chance to give her a chaste kiss on her lips. "So it's up to you now Erza. You need to make the choice," he said to the blushing girl who was strangely quiet.

He saw the tears started to gather in her eyes and it seemed like for the first time words failed her. But then, he didn't need words to know her answer because she chose to let him know through her action instead as she crashed her lips against his in a passionate kiss that blew both their minds away. And Sasuke felt his heart soared at her acceptance for he was waiting too long for this to happen.

To be continued

A/N: I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thank you for reading and reviewing.